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ADDRESS 



SENATOR HENRY WAYLAND HILL, 



MEMORIAL DAY EXERCISES 



Convention Hall, Buffalo, N. Y., May 23, 1909. 



■' There can be no affinity nearer than our country " — Plato. 



ALBANY 

J. B. LYON COMPANY. PRINTERS 

1909 



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JUL 



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ADDRESS 



SENATOR HENRY VVAYLAND HILL, 

At the Memorial Day Exercises in Convention Hall, 
at Buffalo, N. Y. 

MAY 23, 1909. 



Honored Veterans of the late Civil War, Ladies and 
Gentlemen: 

These impressive Memoi-ial Ceremonies are a touching 
tribute to the memory of those who gave their services, 
and in some instances their Hves in defense of their coun- 
try'. All classes and conditions unite annually in paying 
tribute to their memories, and the National Memorial Day, 
when men may pause in their labors to scatter floral offer- 
ings on the graves of their fallen heroes, is observed with 
as much formality as the anniversary of our Independence. 
It is well that this is so, for the preservation of the Union 
involved sacrifices as heroic as those made in establishing 
this free Republic, and those upon whom rested the burden 
of its preservation will rank in history along with its 
founders. Every battlefield of the Civil War is strewn 
with the bones of the loyal sons of the North, who fought 
as valiantly and poured out their lives in patriotic devotion 
as heroically as any who fell at Concord, Lexington or 
Bunker Hill. As time goes on the patriotic services of the 
Volunteer soldiers of the late Civil War will be better 
understood and enshrined in the hearts of the people, who 
from generation to generation will be taught to revere their 



4 ADDRESS OF 

memories, and to transmit to others the record of their 
heroic services in the defense of the Union. 

In the dark days of the Civil War when the perpetuity 
of the Nation was in doubt, there went forth from every 
hamlet, township and city of the North soldiers who in the 
aggregate numbered in the thousands, and who were the 
" noblest and bravest warriors that ever buckled sword." 

The consecrated soil of Vicksburg, Winchester and 
Gettysburg, and many other battlefields, where the best 
life-blood of the Nation was poured out, are the common 
heritage of our people, and will be an inspiration to gen- 
erations yet unborn to emulate the heroic and illustrious 
lives there sacrificed that the Nation might remain one 
and indivisible. For us of a later generation to have part, 
howsoever humble it may be, in paying tribute to such dis- 
tinguished warriors who, by their personal devotion to 
country and heroism on the field of battle, preserved this 
nation and made the amenities of peace possible, with all 
of their resultant blessings, is an honor for any person 
second only to that bestowed on the heroes themselves. 
We should welcome the surviving veterans of the Grand 
Armies as enthusiastically as did Thebes through its hun- 
dred gates its conquering chariots, or Imperial Rome its 
victorious legions. The gallantry, the devotion to country, 
the heroism on the field of battle, the skill in military 
achievements of the Grand Army of the Republic were not 
surpassed by the armies of Alexander, Caesar or Napoleon. 
From Sumter to Appomattox every battlefield is strewn 
with the bones of valiant sons of the North, whose love of 
country led them to lay down their lives that this Nation 
might be preserved for succeeding generations. A million 
noble lives were thus sacrificed that we of a later geiiera- 
tion might enjoy the blessings of peace under a preserved 
Federal government. Small indeed the tribute which we 
can pay to their memories, but let us never forget the 
sacrifices which they made. With a valor that was Spartan, 
with a devotion to the cause of the Union that was patriotic, 
with a leadcrshi]) that was gallant and of the highest order, 
in the W^ilderncss. at Gettysburg and elsewhere, the Union 
volunteer soldiers achieved for themselves and the nation 
imperishable fame. 



SENATOR HENRY WAYLAND HILL. 5 

If Lodi, Austerlitz and Waterloo be memorable events 
in European history, what shall be said of Gettysburg, 
Winchester and Chancellorsville in American history? 
" There repose the precious offerings laid upon the 
altar of the country by the loyal States." On every battle- 
field sleep many unknown dead: 

" Up many a fortress wall 

They charged, those Boys in Blue, 
'Mid surging smoke and volleying ball. 
The bravest were the first to fall — 
To fall for me and you." 

In speaking of the illustrious dead who had fallen in 
the Peloponnesian War, Pericles said : " Methinks that a 
death such as theirs has been, gives the true measure of a 
man's worth; it may be the first revelation of his virtues, 
but is at any rate their final seal * * *_ They resigned 
to hope their unknown chance of happiness ; but in the 
face of death they resolved to rely upon themselves alone. 
And when the moment came they were minded to resist 
and suffer rather than to fly and save their lives : They 
ran away from the word of dishonor, but on the battle- 
field their feet stood fast : and in an instant, at the height 
of their fortune they passed away from the scene, not of 
their fear but of their glory. Such was the end of these 
men ; they were worthy of Athens, and the living need not 
desire to have a more heroic spirit, although they may pray 
for a less fatal issue. The value of such a spirit is not to 
be expressed in words." 

From that period to the present, all nations have erected 
costly memorials and paid reverential homage to the mem- 
ories of those who have fallen in the defense of their coun- 
try. We should therefore make our Memorial Day not 
only one of tribute to the memories of those who fell in 
defense of the Union, but the occasion for the inculcation 
of patriotism and the love of our institutions. The fast 
disappearing ranks of distincfuished veterans of the Civil 
War point to but one conclusion, and that is that the 
Grand Army of the Republic will soon exist only in 
precious memory. When the distinguished veterans of the 



6 ADDRESS OF 

Grand Army of the Republic who are present here to-day 
are no more, the school children who have participated in 
these exercises will remember this as one of the most mem- 
orable of any of the scenes that they have ever witnessed. 

The school children who formed a part of the Living 
Shield on the occasion of the National Encampment of the 
Grand Army of the Republic in Buffalo, in 1897, will not 
soon forget the 50,000 veterans of the Civil War, consti- 
tuting the grandest pageant ever witnessed in this city, as 
they marched up Main street, over Chippewa to Delaware, 
and up Delaware, headed by President William McKinley, 
who, in one of his speeches during the Encampment, said: 
" Blessed is that country whose defenders are patriots. 
Blessed is that country whose soldiers fight for it and are 
willing to give the best they have, the best that any man 
has, their own lives, to preserve it because they love it. 
Such an army the United States has always commanded 
in every crisis of her history. From the War of the Revo- 
lution to the late Civil War, the m.en followed that flag in 
battle because they loved that flag and believed in what it 
represented. Tliat was the stuff of which the Volunteer 
Army of '61 was made. Every one of them not only 
fought, but they thought. Many of them did their own 
thinking, and did not always agree with their Command- 
ers." As the President's carriage passed down Chippewa 
street 2,000 school children sang " Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, 
the Boys are Marching." With voices full and strong they 
kept up that song until the President approached the stand, 
and looked up at the beautiful picture, lifted his hat again 
and again and smiled at them. The children in one body 
then rose to their feet and cheered the President, Governor 
Black and Commander Clarkson. 

It was a grand, magnificent sight to witness the blue- 
garbed heroes as they marched up Delaware avenue. 
Thousands of spectators thronged the avenue and waved 
the Stars and Stripes as a tribute of honor to the men who 
had saved the Union from dismemberment. Such a spec- 
tacle had never been witnessed in Buffalo, and its im- 
pressiveness will never be forgotten by those who saw it. 
In the procession were such distinguished veterans as 
Col. Alger, Secretary of War, Col. Pingree, Gen. Lew 



SENATOR HENRY WAYLAND HILL. / 

Wallace, Gen. Sickles and many others. New York had 
12,000 veterans in the line, and the G. A. R. Posts of 
Buffalo had over 800 men in line. The procession was five 
hours and forty-five minutes in passing a given point, and 
not until the last strains of the Battle Hymn of the Repub- 
lic had died away after the last column had passed in 
review, did the 250,000 spectators along the streets of 
Buffalo disperse to their homes. 

The National Encampments of the Grand Army of the 
Republic have since the Civil War formed most notable 
assemblages, and have left an enduring impression upon 
the rising generation. The annual camp-fires, military 
parades and reunions of military organizations bring to- 
gether such of the distinguished veterans as are able to 
be in attendance from various parts of the Union, to 
rehearse again and again the stirring events of the late 
Civil War, whose story is the most thrilling and pathetic 
of any recorded in history. A million or more were en- 
gaged on either side, and the killed and wounded at Cold 
Harbor, Chancellorsville, Chickamauga, Corinth, Gettys- 
burg, Petersburg, during the Seven Days Retreat in Vir- 
ginia, Shiloh, Vicksburg, Spottsylvania, Fredericksburg, the 
Wilderness, and elsewhere, numbered thousands, and some 
of these approaching the losses of any other military en- 
gagement in the history of the world. This extraordinary 
sacrifice of human life was made to preserve this Govern- 
ment, which President Lincoln declared " Cannot endure 
permanently half slave and half free." 

In his masterful Gettysburg dedicatory address President 
Lincoln voiced the loftiest patriotism and the deep pulsa- 
tions of the National heart throbbing in sympathy with 
thousands in the loyal North, whose loved ones had fallen 
there and on other battlefields of the Civil War. He keenly 
felt what a sacrifice they had made in giving for their 
country their " last full measure of devotion " to its per- 
petuity. 

That address is as sympathetic as the Funeral Oration 
of Pericles, and will be read in commemoration of the 
devotion of the soldiers of the Civil War as long as this 
Nation endures. Lincoln. Seward, Stanton, Grant, Sher- 
man, Sheridan, Hancock, Thomas, Meade, Logan, Hooker, 



8 ADDRESS OF 

Farrag^ut, Morris and others who served their country so 
patiently, so ably, so valiantly, during the long struggle, 
are now among the immortals whose names are household 
words, loved and revered by all. How precious are their 
memories, how thrilling were their lives, how imperishable 
their achievements ! The Boys in Blue, who marched and 
fought and conquered and died on a thousand or more 
battlefields, down the Mississippi, up the Atlantic Coast, 
and elsewhere, are not forgotten, for 

" On Fame's eternal camping ground 
Their silent tents are spread, 
And Glory guards with solemn round, 
The bivouac of the dead." 

On every great battlefield of the Civil War are erected 
monuments in testimony of the heroic devotion of those 
who fell while in the service of their country: 

" Nor shall their glory be forgot 

While Fame her record keeps. 
Or Honor points the hallowed spot 

Where valor proudly sleeps. 
Nor wreck, nor change, nor winter's blight. 

Nor Time's remorseless doom, 
Can dim one ray of holy light 

That gilds their glorious tomb." 

The State of New York sent into the field nearly 200 regi- 
ments of infantry, in addition to its cavalry, artillery, sailors 
and marines, comprising all together 482,313 men, of whom 
upwards of 35,000 were sailors and marines, 4,125 .colored 
troops, and the aggregate number of deaths was 46,534. 
Several regiments of infantry, cavalry and artillery were 
organized and went into the field from Erie county. The 
Comrades in attendance upon this occasion for the most 
part were members of some of those regiments, and fortu- 
nate are we to have them with us, inculcating the principles 
of patriotism in the truest sense, in this commercial age. 
when love of country is sometimes forgotten in the fierce 
competition of business or in the desire to acquire riches. 



SENATOR HENRY WAYLAND HILL. 9 

Their presence, however, should be a constant reminder of 
their loyalty and devotion to their country, which they 
placed above everything else, when laying- aside all else they 
responded to their country's call, and went forth to battle for 
the perpetuity of the Nation. Such devotion, such loyalty, 
such consecration on the part of the veterans of the late Civil 
War is the strongest testimony they could give of their 
faith in this Free Republic and the duty devolving upon 
all classes to preserve it at all hazards, in whatsoever form 
its perpetuity be endangered. We should reverently cherish 
the memories of those who have passed to that ever-grow- 
ing City of the Dead, and let pass no opportunity to render 
such services as are possible to the living of those dis- 
tinguished Union Armies that comprised the Flower of 
American Alanhood, the loyal sons of nearly every hearth- 
stone in this broad land of ours. 

Some will remember the high standing and exemplary 
character of the men as they left their holmes in regiments 
commanded by distinguished citizens in various parts of 
the country, to join the Union Armies, and how they, with- 
out reward or the hope of reward, other than the satisfac- 
tion that comes to one in the consciousness of duty well 
performed, endured the hardships of military life and 
braved the deadly onslaught of many battles, that this Re- 
public, founded on the immutable principles of eternal jus- 
tice, might not perish from the earth. Many of such left 
their homes and loved ones never to return ; others after 
years of service in the most deadly war of modern times, 
weakened by disease and the hardships of military life, or 
maimed in battle, returned to spend their remaining years 
with their loved ones in the North. These constitute the 
Grand Army of the Republic. As the years pass the num- 
ber of these veterans is perceptibly diminishing, but there 
is a growing desire amid the grateful people of the Nation 
to honor these distinguished warriors who heroically saved 
the country in one of its greatest crises. All honor to the 
Boys in Blue, who springing to the defense of their country 
in the hour of its supreme peril, and with a devotion to 
country as consecrated as any that ever actuated the heart 
of man, amid the shot and shell and storm of many deadly 
battles, more destructive than that of Austerlitz or Waterloo, 



lO ADDRESS OF 

saved the Union from the dismemberment which threatened 
it ! May their names be inscribed among the Immortals 
and the school children of this and succeeding generations 
taught to revere the names of those who thus preserved 
the Nation. 

Comrades, you have won the undying gratitude of your 
countrymen. You have achieved imperishable fame. You 
have saved the Nation, and made possible the blessings of 
free government to generations yet unborn. 

As oft as the Memorial Day returns a grateful and a 
free people will strew the graves of your departed com- 
rades with immortelles, and rear monuments as tributes to 
their memory, which are thus beautifully described by the 
poet Henry Van Dyke : 

" Count not the cost of honor to the dead ! 
The tribute that a mighty Nation pays 
To those who loved her well in former days 

Means more than gratitude for glories fled; 

For every noble man that she hath bred, 
Immortalized by art's immortal praise. 
Lives in the bronze and marble that we raise. 

To lead our sons as he our fathers led. 

These monuments of manhood, brave and high. 
Do more than forts or battle-ships to keep 

Our dear-bought liberty. They fortify 

The heart of youth with valor wise and deep; 

They build eternal bulwarks, to command 

Eternal strength to guide our native land." 

This sentiment is well nigh universal and hais already 
found stately and appropriate expression in monuments to 
our heroic dead at Gettysburg, Chattanooga, Arlington and 
elsewhere. These are eloquent testimonials to their loyalty 
and will inspire to like achievement generations of your 
sturdy countrymen, who place manhood above greed, 
patriotism above sensationalism, love of country above a 
disregard of its institutions and who cherish a profound 
regard for our Republican form of government, founded 
at great cost of life and treasure, wherein civil and re- 
ligious liberty under law is guaranteed as our priceless 
heritage. In the solution of the grave problems of self- 



SENATOR HENRY WAYLAND HILL. II 

government in the future, the duty devolves on your suc- 
cessors, as that enjoyned upon Roman magistrates in com- 
pliance with the political maxim, " Videant consules . . . ne 
quid detrimenti capiat Respublica " to see to it that this 
Republic suffer no harm from enemies within or without 
its confines, howsoever insidious their attacks may be. In 
your unflinching devotion to the cause of the Union in the 
hour of its supreme peril, you and your comrades have 
exalted citizenship and left for those coming after you an 
exemplification of genuine patriotism worthy of emulation 
by all who would have this Republic endure. 



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